Tasmania’s peak business body has launched a campaign calling for federal funding to overhaul Launceston’s ageing sewage network.
The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI) wants Canberra to fund the $700 million Launceston sewer transformation.
The project would consolidate seven ageing treatment plants into a single facility at Ti Tree Bend.
The plants currently discharge into the Kanamaluka/Tamar estuary.
The chamber says the project would inject more than $2 billion into the economy over 10 years, support more than 6,000 jobs and create capacity for 10,000 new homes.
It says the overhaul would also remove up to 70% of the nitrogen and phosphorus now flowing into the estuary.
Acting chief executive Colleen Reardon linked the campaign to a run of bad economic news in the north, including the closure of Boag’s and Hawthorn Football Club’s decision to stop playing in Launceston beyond 2027.
“While there are no silver bullets, the Launceston sewer transformation is one project which, if funded, would be a massive economic boost for the region,” Reardon said.
The campaign is backed by the Housing Industry Association, the Civil Contractors Federation, the Property Council and the Launceston Chamber of Commerce.
Acting Premier Bridget Archer has also thrown the state government’s support behind the push.
“This will act as a significant economic multiplier, provide good, well-paid jobs, allow us to build more homes and continue to support the north of the state,” Archer said.
“We will fight tooth and nail for this and I welcome the efforts from the TCCI to see this done.”
Labor MP and shadow treasurer Dean Winter said the “sudden enthusiasm” from the state government “would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious”.
He said the Liberals first proposed the project in 2015.
“Infrastructure Australia told the government over a decade ago that the next step was to complete a detailed business case, but it looks like the Liberals simply never did the work,” Winter said.
“Now, instead of delivering, they are outsourcing advocacy to the TCCI, pretending to ‘fight tooth and nail’ for a project they left sitting on a shelf to gather dust.”
An Infrastructure Australia assessment dated December 2025 lists the project at its earliest stage and recommends the state government complete a business case before it can progress.
